1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector having improved press-fit conductive contacts which can be securely and reliably retained to a housing of the electrical connector.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of computer technology, a new product, named as a serial ATA (Advance Technology Attachment) electrical connector, is proposed for use as an interface of fast-talking drives, which will effectively improve the bandwidth, or capacity for data, between hard disk drives and other PC components, with respect to the parallel ATA connector. The serial ATA connector also has some other improvements with respect to the parallel ATA, such as low cost, low pin count, and low voltage requirement, and so on. In a word, the serial ATA connector provides a long-term solution for high performance, and easier, more flexible system design.
Commonly, a serial ATA connector mounted on a circuit board includes an insulative housing and a plurality of signal, power and ground contacts retained in the housing. For simplifying the connection or disconnection of the serial ATA connector from the circuit board, the conductive contacts thereof are provided with press-fit tails to be directly inserted into or withdrawn from corresponding holes defined in the circuit board, which needs relative large insertion or withdrawal force during insertion or withdrawal from the circuit board. The large insertion/withdrawal force causes the contacts to separate from the housing, if the conductive contacts are not securely retained to the housing.
Hence, a serial ATA connector with improved press-fit contacts is desired to resolve the above-mentioned problems or disadvantages.
A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having improved press-fit contacts which can be prevented from moving with respect to a dielectric body of the electrical connector or being damaged during assembly.
To fulfill the above-mentioned object, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises a dielectric body and a plurality of conductive contacts retained to the dielectric body. The dielectric body defines two rows of positioning holes and a row of retaining holes between the positioning holes. Each contact has a retaining portion retained to a corresponding retaining hole, a mating beam and a press-fit or complaint type tail extending from opposite ends of the retaining portion. A pair of resilient beams project from a joint portion between the retaining portion and the press-fit tail for insertion into a corresponding positioning hole, and upper ends of the resilient beams abut against a slanted portion formed adjacent to the positioning hole.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.